2.15pm – Ten minutes into Question Time, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott moved a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Denied leave, Abbott moved a motion to suspend Standing Orders to enable the no-confidence motion to be moved. He is now speaking to that motion.
“This is a government that has lost its way,” Abbott told the House, echoing Gillard’s words on the day she took over from Kevin Rudd in 2010. “But it’s not a good government,” Abbott said.
Kevin Rudd can be seen working quietly at his desk on the government’s backbench.
Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop seconded the motion to suspend Standing Orders. “Irrespective of who wins the ballot, there will be stability with this government,” she said. She said the government was riven with splits that will not go away.
Gillard attacked the opposition over its attitude to the global financial crisis and lauded her government’s economic performance and its job creation record. Her speech, possibly her last as Prime Minister, canvassed the government’s achievements.
The House has now divided on the motion to suspend Standing Orders. If passed, Abbott will be able to move his motion of no-confidence in Gillard. If carried by an absolute majority of 76, the motion will pass.
The motion was passed 73-71 but is lost because the absolute majority was not achieved.
- Listen to the start of Question Time (9m)
- Listen to Abbott’s speech on the suspension of Standing Orders (10m)
- Listen to Julie Bishop second Abbott’s motion (5m)
- Listen to Julia Gillard respond to the motion (11m)
